Kapor Foundation

Oakland Tech Week was a VIBE! Such inspiring humans and conversations. I loved talking about Responsible AI, broadening societal context, ethical innovation, and shifting power dynamics to create a more equitable future. These are the exact conversations that inspire me and let me know I’ve found community with incredible humans on a similar mission. Thank you Kapor Foundation, Good Trouble Ventures, New Media Ventures (NMV), AJ Thomas ⚡️, Kat Steinmetz, Monica Pool Knox, Lili Gangas, Allen Smith, Phillip Sanders, Adjetey Clarence Lassey, Portia Mayari, Philip J., Donald Martin, Jr., and so many others for co-creating such an amazing week! Can’t wait for more events like this! If we didn’t have a chance to connect directly, please reach out so we can keep the momentum going. We are building the future now. Let’s play! ✨

This is what inclusive, tech innovation and ecosystem building looks like in practice! So thankful and proud of all my amazing friends at Kapor Foundation !

What a wrap on an incredible Oakland Tech Week! Still buzzing over the joy, energy, and sense of connection woven into every event over the last week. Grateful to the visionary leadership of HiiiWAV Bosko Kante Maya Kante Miles D. Kapor Foundation Lili Gangas Kirsten Lundgren Nathan Jones Candase Chambers City of Oakland Erica Joy Astrella Esther Morales and my amazing colleagues Carrie Maultsby-Lute (she/her) Dan Sachs Renée Jadushlever and so many more. Some personal highlights: 🌟 Supporting Councilmember Rowena B. Town Alive initiative at City Hall to establish the creation of Entertainment Zones and Responsible AI Activation Zones across Oakland (including Northeastern University - Oakland) and seeing NU student leader Tristan Bagula eloquently address City Council in support of this legislation. 🌟 Attending an inspiring conversation following Northeastern's Responsible AI Summit with Mayor Barbara Lee, Dr. Freada Kapor Klein, and Mitch Kapor on the future of tech, innovation, and investment in Oakland. 🌟 Celebrating the achievements of 60+ Oakland Technical High School students who completed Northeastern's Bridge to AI program in Elisha Lili Davis (Ms. Davis) Money Class led by Bridge to AI Director Alli Chagi-Starr and Jenee Smith 🌟 Hosting Senior Technology Day with Councilmember Kevin Jenkins Linda Handy Beverly Jarrett Sheree W. The Mills Institute Christie Chung, Ph.D. and Inés C. Barbosa she/ella, connecting 40+ senior citizens with students volunteers from Northeastern, Castlemont High School and Fremont High School 🌟 Hosting Two AI Clinics for Small Businesses with Karimah Omer, MBA Tomás Alonso-Iñarra Jenee Smith Rasika Bhalerao, Ph.D., connecting 15 businesses with Northeastern students for personalized AI support 🌟 And of course, receiving an official Oakland Tech Week proclamation from City of Oakland!

Three things to love about this new resource from the Kapor universe: 🤓They directly reference (and explicitly recommend) one of my favorite articles EVER: “Don’t Ask if AI is Good or Fair, Ask How it Shifts Power” by Pratyusha Ria Kalluri (https://lnkd.in/eEyreg3m) 🤩They collaborated with Alex Hanna, Ph.D. and other absolute rock stars to produce a concise set of directional priorities that should precede any conversation about AI investment. They are thoughtful, citationally sound, and community oriented. 🤔As I heard from Allison Scott, Ph.D. last night at the All Tech Is Human Responsible Tech Summit, the Kapor team are looking for feedback on the principles and ideas about how to make them actionable and legible to broad audiences. You can be part of making this EXCELLENT work even more impactful!

Responsible AI principles can sounds like gobbledygook. Innovation word salad with a few values sprinkled in here and there. But the responsible AI principles from the Kapor Foundation are … a breath of fresh air for the sociotechnical among us! It’s rare when an organization makes explicit that we need ‘sociotechnical frameworks’ to identify challenges and solutions. This pushes back nicely on the engineering logic behind much of the “tech for good” world that presumes complex social problems can be solved through technological fixes. Right, technology is never separate from the social systems it aims to fix. It’s entangled in the same histories, power relations, and inequities that created the problems in the first place. Making this the #1 principle is 👏👏 I also rarely see ‘power’ included in responsible AI principles, but the Kapor Foundation rightly centers AI initiatives that shift power. This pushes back on the question everyone is asking — what is my AI strategy? — and replaces it with the one we should all be asking: what future do I want to realize, what about relationships, culture and power need to change in my system to head in that direction, and how might AI help or hinder that? (If you work in philanthropy and want to start answering that question for yourself, I’m hosting a funder-only webinar tomorrow, November 12 at 12 pm ET. DM me to join or get an invite to the next one.) A huge kudos to the Kapor Foundation for offering a model for others to follow!

It was incredible to be part of the inaugural Oakland Tech Week—a week dedicated to uplifting Oakland’s innovators, builders, and creators who are shaping the region’s tech future. Grateful for the conversations, the community, and the vision showcased. Can’t wait for next year’s!